Letters to the Editor: Why is a proposal for construction workers to earn a livable wage ‘insanity’?

To the editor: This article shared that the minimum wage for residential construction workers sought by six of the city’s councilpersons is $32.35 (“The home construction industry is bleeding workers. Could paying them more help rebuild L.A.?,” Sept. 30). A worker employed 40 hours every week for the 52 weeks in a year would make $5,607 per month before taxes.

According to Apartments.com, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is $3,005 per month, while the average for a two-bedroom house is $4,496 per month. Those rents don’t leave much to live on for a construction worker in our city. Yet the president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. called $32.35 “absolute insanity.” What’s really insane here?

Mark Driskill, Long Beach